Despite high-profile incidents, crime down in Appleton

Apr. 24, 2014

Appleton police blocked off streets and brought in a tactical squad during a standoff with an armed man in a home in the 1300 block of South Harmon Street near Reid Golf Course on Oct. 15. / Dan Powers/Post-Crescent Media

APPLETON — Despite several high-profile incidents in Appleton last year, crime in major categories continues to fall, Appleton police say.

Violent crime — murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault — was down in 2013 compared to 2012, according to the department’s annual report. While police say new crime-fighting strategies have paid off, not all categories of crime are declining.

From 2012 to 2013, simple assault incidents increased by about 150 over the average number, but that was due in part to the Department of Justice broadening the scope of reporting to include pushing and spitting, which were previously categorized as disorderly conduct.

The increase in computer crimes is attributed to more computer and Smartphone use, Olm said.

“Five to 10 years ago, checks were counterfeited and signatures were forged,” Olm said. “We have now seen a 60 to 70 percent reduction in those specific crimes since 2008, due in part to the phase-out of the checking industry.”

As more people use the Internet for routine purchases and bill-paying, the number of potential victims has spiked. It also allows criminals to easily reach across state and international lines, Olm said.

Here’s a breakdown of other crime categories for 2013:

• Drug violations were down to 475 from 533 in 2012.

• Robbery was down to 18 from 26 in 2012.

• Burglary was down to 192 from 254 in 2012.

• Vandalism and destruction to property were down to 599 from 743 in 2012.

Olm said 2013 represented the department’s highest percentage of clearance rates for violent and property crimes in the past five years.

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“In the Appleton area, (these) crime numbers are largely influenced by criminals that commit multiple, repetitive offenses,” Olm said. “Higher clearance rates — and thus holding criminals accountable — can have a large impact on the number of future crimes these criminals may commit.”

Green Bay police saw similar success in 2013, where violent and property crime dropped by about 8 percent. The downturn came after the department adopted new community policing strategies. Officials in Green Bay also pointed to a brutal winter that may have kept criminals indoors.

Appleton Police Chief Pete Helein said in the annual report that new collaborations helped solve crimes.

In 2013, the department added two Outagamie County Sheriff’s deputies to its community resource unit, implemented a threat assessment team in local schools and augmented its use of social media to get the public’s help in identifying suspects.

Appleton Mayor Tim Hanna acknowledged the decrease in overall crime, but said anecdotal reports of violent calls are unsettling.

“You look at the number of critical incidents with barricaded people and you see more SWAT call-outs with a negotiator and cops threatened,” Hanna said. “You’re seeing more of the ‘suicide by cop’ situation. We saw it here, and we saw it in Menasha.”

Appleton’s SWAT, or special weapons and tactics, team, responded to two incidents in 2013.

The first was in May on S. Walden Avenue when a 62-year-old man was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after the SWAT team arrived to arrest him on a warrant.

The second was in October on South Harmon Street involving a seven-hour standoff with Craig Jackowski, who barricaded himself inside a home with two 6-month-old children. Jackowski was sentenced in January to three years of probation on a felony charge of failure to comply with officers.

Police highlighted several other major incidents in 2013:

• The hit-and-run fatality that killed Robert Joosten, 61, of Little Chute, who was bicycling on Wisconsin Avenue in November. Police arrested James Erdmann, of Poy Sippi, who will stand trial this summer for felony hit-and-run involving a death.

• A shooting at Luna Lounge in December that killed Joshua Richards, 25, Green Bay. Chong Lee, 28, of Neenah, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide.

• The three-month investigation of a Fox Cities woman who fled to Tennessee in January with her 3-year-old child. Holy Waters Brecheen, 27, was found guilty of interfering with child custody and was sentenced in September to three years of probation.

• A burglary ring that was broken up by multiple arrests. One break-in occurred at Valley Value Cinema. Two men were spotted on surveillance footage in August smashing the theater’s safe with a sledge hammer. Fred Olson, 42, has been charged with felony burglary and Kyle Lenhart, 22, has pending charges.